Nucleation and growth of Ag nanoparticles on amorphous carbon surface from vapor phase formed by vacuum evaporation

摘要

We present the results of experimental study of Ag nanoparticle arrays on thin film of amorphous carbon. The arrays were formed by means of vapor phase deposition on non-heated substrate. The investigation was carried out using TEM technique. It has been found that the size of the particles and their surface density significantly depend on the amount of condensing substance. In particular, increasing the portion of evaporating Ag material from 5.1 to 47.5 mg results in drastic reduction of surface density of the particles from ～ 8,000 to ～ 40 μm~(-2), whereas the predominant particle size changes from ～7 to ～60 nm. We present phenomenological description of the process: directed flow of silver atoms to growing Ag particles takes place during condensation.